The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced they will be canceling all fall sports competition for the 2020-21 school year. They will decide at a later date if they will allow canceled sports to compete during the spring.
“The fall sports impacted by the Council’s decision include men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s cross country and sports that conduct non-traditional season segments in the fall. The MAAC Executive Committee will explore with the Committee on Athletic Administration (COAA) the goal of providing the student-athletes with a schedule of contests among conference members in the spring of 2021 in accordance with each institution’s procedures and applicable state regulations. It is the goal of the MAAC to ensure it recognizes a MAAC champion in each sport and it will review possible championship formats for the fall sports in accordance with evolving state and local regulations.”
The conference did state that they hope to find a way in which to recognize a MAAC champion in each sport and that they will continue to monitor COVID-19 regulations in order to find a way in which to allow that to happen.
The MAAC joins a growing list of conferences that have announced that fall sports won’t be competing this year. They join the CAA, MEAC, IVY, Patriot League, and SWAC at the Division I level in canceling all competition for fall sports. The only exception being that both Navy and Army, members of the Patriot League, will be allowed to compete as normal.
Unlike other Division I conferences that have canceled fall sports, the MAAC does not sponsor football. Only two members of the conference, Marist (Pioneer Football League) and Monmouth (Big South), field teams in the sport. The release was unclear if those teams would still be allowed to compete should their conferences chose to continue with their fall season.
Revenue from football has been a major contributing factor ion the decision to postpone fall sports as many athletic departments rely on it to fund their other sports. In a major conference like the ACC, the conference distributes nearly $30 million per school every year for football alone. Without a major income source such as this encouraging schools to find a way to allow fall sports to play, the decision to cancel them becomes much easier.
The MAAC’s press release stated that all fall athletes will be allowed to return to campus (assuming their university allows it) and may continue to train within their school’s guidelines.
The 2020 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships were won by Fairfield on the women’s side and Rider on the men’s.
